Be careful what you wish for wasn’t the saying of the day at Raptors practice, but it may as well have been.

Less than 24 hours after having their lunch handed to them by a veteran-laden Boston Celtics club the Raptors were back on the practice court trying to avoid a repeat of some of the finer points that made them such fodder for the Boston club.

And while certainly not all of the loss was on rookies Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross, there were enough teaching moments in the game to keep both with the coaching staff and in front of game film for an extended period of time Thursday morning before the actual practice.

For every home game for the past month or so, Casey has been hearing it from the local faithful who want more Valanciunas and more Ross, but it’s only just recently that they got their wish.

And now they’re seeing first-hand why Casey was rather selective in where those minutes came.

“It’s a two-edged sword,” Casey said. “Everybody is clamouring for young guys to play and unfortunately there’s veteran players in the league,” Casey said.

One of the most veteran players and one without a conscience when it comes to exposing a rookie was on Valanciunas’ agenda Wednesday night in Boston and it wasn’t pretty.

“There’s so much to learn,” Casey said. “We knew that with Jonas. He’s making progress. When you’re playing (against) a veteran player like that, not only is what you do defensively important, but so is your spacing (on offence). If you’re one or two steps off, a veteran player like (Kevin) Garnett knows how to zone up … it takes the other team totally out of the offensive sets there’s so much that goes into that.”

By being just a few steps out of position for a good part of the night, Valanciunas allowed Garnett to defend him while still disrupting everything else the Raptors were trying to do. Those couple of steps were the difference between Garnett affecting one man’s offence and all five Raptors on the floor.

“That’s why it’s hard to play rookies extended minutes, but we’ve got to,” Casey said. “He’s a big part of what we’re doing in the future. The only thing he’s going to do is learn. It’s painful sometimes, to play rookies big minutes, but we’ve got to do it.”

Ross’s miscues weren’t as impactful, but he too is learning on the go.

Valanciunas though was up against Garnett and this was Garnett in a nasty mood following a blown game the night before in Charlotte.

This is in no way meant to criticize a rookie for learning his lessons. The same way Amir Johnson learned his in Detroit or Kyle Lowry learned in Memphis, Valanciunas and Ross are now seeing first hand what they’re up against.

The difference is now when they make a mistake or even multiple one’s they are not being pulled. These are merely pointed out the next day and the correct approach is offered.

For Valanciunas on Thursday, the big takeaway was the importance of spacing the floor and the ramifications should one miss the mark by a step or two.

“Spacing is huge,” Casey said. “Also recognizing rotations, recognizing coverages quickly, whether you’re showing or whether you’re walling, there’s a lot that goes into one possession that you’ve got to recognize. As a veteran team they can really make you look bad if you’re not on target.”

Valanciunas though did make progress this time over the first time he faced Garnett. That was back on Nov. 17 when the young rook fouled out after just 19:20 of playing time. This time around Valanciunas was on the floor for a team-high 34:12.

The best part of all of this is Valanciunas is a willing and eager learner. Hard work does not scare this guy. Whatever it’s going to take, Valanciunas has shown he’ll work through it.

And if that means a few tough nights along the way, he’ll take those too.

BARGNANI HOPES TO BE BACK

Andrea Bargnani says he hasn’t given up on playing again this season, but that’s certainly the way it looks.

“What I know is what you guys know, what came out (Wednesday)” Bargnani said Thursday when he faced the media for the first time since his latest injury was confirmed. “I just do therapy and we see how it evolves.”

The lastest injury is an avulsion sprain to his right elbow. The affected ligament is the same one that Bargnani tore in December costing him 26 games of the season, but a different injury.

Bargnani sounded as frustrated with his season as his detractors have been.

“It was a very unlucky season,” Bargnani said. “I don’t even know if I played like 10 straight games because every time I played I got an injury. It was very frustrating. I’ve just got to stay positive, try to get back in shape and be back and play very good.”

Where he winds up playing when he does regain his health won’t be determined until the off-season, but most of the signs right now point to Bargnani leaving the team that made him the first-overall pick back in 2006.

Head coach Dwane Casey also chalked the season up to one bad break after another for Bargnani.

“It’s unfortunate that the young man can’t catch a break, no pun intended,” Casey said, “but it’s one of those things where it’s one injury after another and it’s not like he’s got a (small injury) or something, it’s legit injuries and it’s tough. He’s missed so many games and he’s been a big part of what we’re trying to do and it would be such a big help as far as stretching the floor for Rudy and DeMar and we need that.”

GAY PLAYS THROUGH PAIN

Rudy Gay is playing hurt these days.

The Raptors marquee acquisition at the trade deadline continues to struggle with back problems which first surfaced March 1 in a game against the Indiana Pacers.

He has since sat out two games but even after a night off it’s been having an effect on him.

“Your back is such a big part of what you do,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said. “Shooting the ball, handling the ball, definitely defensively, getting down into the stance.”

Casey can’t say how much of a factor the back issues have been in Gay’s spotty shooting of late (he’s shooting just 36.7% in March), but he does know it has had an effect.

“I’m sure it does (bother him),” Casey said, “but you’ll have to ask him how much it does restrict him, how much it does take away form his movement and his shooting. I do notice he hasn’t been himself since he’s had the back issues the night we played Milwaukee.”

TIP OFF

MARQUEE MATCHUP

Gerald Henderson vs. DeMar DeRozan

Normally this wouldn’t be the highlighted matchup, but considering Henderson went off for 35 points on 11-of-19 shooting and a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line. The fact that he did it against the Celtics is what moved him into marquee matchup territory. The Celtics had no answer for Henderson who becomes a restricted free agent this off-season. As for DeRozan, he has been solid of late averaging 16.4 points per game in seven games this month, but the big spike has come in his assist numbers, which are up to 4.7 a game in March compared to 2.7 for the season.

scouting report

Since opening the year with seven wins in the month of November the Bobcats have fallen back to their old ways with a single win in December, three in January, two in February and one so far in March. The Bobcats have some solid, young pieces in Kemba Walker, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Bismack Biyombo but all are young and still learning the NBA game. It’s not an overnight or one-year process and the Bobcats are paying for that right now. Walker leads the team with 17.2 points a night and 5.6 assists but this is still very much a team building for the future. Having said that, one of Charlotte’s nine wins this year has come against the Raptors. A no-call as Andrea Bargnani was hit on the arm on the final play of the game secured a one-point win for the Bobcats back in November. All it got the Raptors was an admission from the league that a foul should have been called.

did you know?

The Bobcats colours are the only other NBA uniform that Raptors forward Alan Anderson has ever worn. Anderson was an undrafted free agent signee by the Bobcats before heading overseas ... Newest Bobcat Josh McRoberts enjoyed his first double-double as a Bobcat in the win over Boston on Tuesday ... Point guard Ramon Sessions has missed the past three games with a left knee sprain ... The 35-point outburst against Boston wasn’t a one-off. Henderson has double-digit scoring nights in 17 of his past 19 games and is averaging 16.2 points and shooting just under 45% in those games.

There were lots of them for Raps rookies in Boston, where they were schooled

Be careful what you wish for wasn’t the saying of the day at Raptors practice, but it may as well have been.

Less than 24 hours after having their lunch handed to them by a veteran-laden Boston Celtics club the Raptors were back on the practice court trying to avoid a repeat of some of the finer points that made them such fodder for the Boston club.

And while certainly not all of the loss was on rookies Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross, there were enough teaching moments in the game to keep both with the coaching staff and in front of game film for an extended period of time Thursday morning before the actual practice.

For every home game for the past month or so, Casey has been hearing it from the local faithful who want more Valanciunas and more Ross, but it’s only just recently that they got their wish.

And now they’re seeing first-hand why Casey was rather selective in where those minutes came.